I haven't seen any Hannah Montana car tires, power tools, condoms, cigarettes, whiskey, tampons, or water bongs yet, but I'm sure they will be here soon enough. My girlfriend and I joke a lot about Miss Montana every time we go to Walmart. It seems like you can't go down a single aisle of that store without finding something with the Hannah Montana brand on it. She occasionally buys me a gag gift of something to do with Hannah Montana. I recently got a collection of ball point pens, a dog tag neck chain, and today I was provided a bottle of hand sanitizer. I'll actually use the hand sanitizer as long as no one sees me do it, but would I have bought it for myself? I don't think so :)

Yesterday's election cast me into a minority unlike any I have ever seen before.  Patrick McHenry (pictured above) is the only candidate I voted for above a local level who won his race.  McHenry was re-elected as the congressman from North Carolina's 10th district.  Interestingly enough, I'm not a huge fan of McHenry.  He wasn't my first choice of candidates when he was first elected to this position.  I also supported Lance Sigmon in this year's primary instead of McHenry.  In that primary and in yesterday's general election, McHenry hasn't defeated his opponents in the Catawba County vote by very significant margins, but his votes from outside Catawba County seem to carry him. 

Daniel Johnson (Democrat) was Patrick McHenry's opponent in this race, and Daniel was a rather worthy opponent.  There is probably only one issue that kept me from voting for Johnson, and that was his philosophy on reducing our demand on foreign oil.  Johnson's statements on that pretty much follow the general opinions of the rest of his party.  He's supportive of doing everything available except for increasing domestic production.  This philosophy will work, but it will just take a lot longer to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. 

With current gas prices falling back to just above the $2 per gallon mark, I expect this desire to reduce our foreign oil thirst to subside just like it did in the 1970s after the gas shortages.  It will be out of sight and out of mind before we know it. 

Here are some of the things I expect to see over the next four years:

• Insignificant reduction of dependency on foreign oil
• Across the board tax increases on all social classes caused by a non-renewal of the Bush tax cuts
• Higher than average increases in the consumer price index due to increases in cost of doing business caused by removal of tax incentives for businesses
• Premature pull-out of troops in Iraq, which will cause a humanitarian crisis within that country which will require the same type of aid that is NOT being provided in Darfur 
• Significant increases in the cost of healthcare insurance for those who already have healthcare insurance
• The Dow Jones Industrials index will not return to its peak level achieved during the Bush administration

These are just a few high points.  I'm not looking forward to seeing these things, and I hope that I'm wrong.  I'll have to come back and review this post in two years or so... I'd love to hear some disagreement on these bullet points along with supporting reasons...

I'm on the advisory board of my local community college photography program, and I got to attend my first meeting with that group this afternoon. I won't go into the details of that, but one of the brief items that was discussed was bringing students out of their shells (photography students) and getting them acclimated to the social environments required to be a great photographer.  I remember when I first got into photography it seemed difficult for me to approach people with my camera for various reasons.  I think there is a general fear of approaching a complete stranger and asking if you can make their photo.  It's not an abnormal fear really... I think it's probably a simple fear of a possible negative confrontation.  When I got into photojournalism, I had to overcome this fear, because the social interaction between me and my subjects is a requirement and not an option.  After doing this work for several years, I have developed the ability to approach absolutely anyone at any time for any reason with my camera if I want a photo of that person or group of people. 

I have several modes of operation when I want photographs of specific people.  Sometimes I will just walk up to the person and ask if I can make a photo.  This simple question usually catches people off guard unless they have been watching me work for a while.  The first thing they want to know is why i want a photo.  My list of reasons is rather diverse... it may be for newspaper work or for a personal interest such as my 1000 Faces or My Town photo collections.  If I'm shooting for the newspaper, I tell them that and I tell them why I'm doing it and what the story is going to be.  If I'm shooting for myself, I simply tell them that I'm an amateur photographer and I enjoy making photos of people that I find interesting.  That response is my favorite because it makes them start asking questions about my interests.  It usually generates an entertaining dialog where I get a chance to learn something interesting about my subject.  This part of the social interaction feeds my personal passion for photographing and knowing something about a perfect stranger. 

The photo above is a guy I met tonight.  His name is Paul Gaither and I had never seen him before in my life that I know of.  His moustache was obviously what attracted my attention, and when I got closer, his facial textures impressed me even more.  I was early to a football game and was wandering around on the sidelines when I notice him.  He has a kid or relative in the school's marching band and he was assisting with their setup for the evening's events.  I attracted his attention and asked him if he minded if I took his photo.  He simply said yes, which sorta caught me off guard since I'm not used to being rejected for this request.  I did a double-take on him and he was grinning.  He walked up and leaned toward me and said that if I'd slip him a few dollars I could take all the photos I wanted.  I told him that I was a photographer, therefore I had no money.  That got an even bigger giggle out of him.  At this point, I knew I was gonna get my shot.  The next thing he said was that he would be honored to let me make his photo, and I did.  I showed him the image on my LCD right after I shot it.  He called his wife over to have a look, and they both loved the image.  At this point, he told me another story about a photographer who photographed him recently.  She (the photographer) made him wait while she ran to her car to get a camera :) 

Doing this type of thing as often as I do, I think I have learned how to avoid the potential rejection by my subject.  I guess you just have to observe people sometimes and see what their demeanor may be before you approach them with a request like this.  Sometimes people just say no when I ask, and I accept that and move on without question.  No one is obligated to give me a reason if they don't want their photo made.  I just move on to the next person :)

I'm about worn out with the gas prices these days. We're getting gouged big time at the moment.  Every since hurricane Katrina wiped out New Orleans, every time the wind blows in the Gulf of Mexico, gas prices go up.  Today, however, was over the top.  Hurricane Ike is battering the coast of Texas right now and gas spiked $1.00 and more per gallon here in Hickory, North Carolina.  Yesterday, the local gas prices were between $3.49 and $3.65 depending on which thief... I mean gas station you were buying from. 

The problem I have with this is that I don't know exactly who to blame for the current gas spike.  I'm not sure if the individual stations or their distributors are responsible for the price hike.  Either way, it's pure and simple gouging.  IF the wholesale price of gas goes up yesterday or today due to damage caused by hurricane Ike, it takes time... up to several weeks... for that higher priced gasoline to reach the pumps in our communities.  The unfortunate truth is that we, the consumers, start paying the higher price immediately rather than when the higher priced gas actually makes it to town.  We don't even know if hurricane Ike has created any break in the supply line yet.  We don't know if there is any damage that will cause problems in delivering gas.  Someone who has their fingers on the price button of gasoline thinks that there may be damage and could be a shortage. 

Not only did gas spike over $1.00 per gallon here today, but people were lining up at the pumps like lemmings to buy it.  Everyone has been made to believe that there is going to be a shortage.  I drove by five or six gas stations tonight on the way to my photo assignment before I found a station that even had any gas to sell.  On my way home tonight, I looked and didn't see any gas stations pumping gas.  It appeared that all of them were out.  I have about a half tank of gas left.  I'm not sure when I'll be able to get more.  Hopefully I can make it until someone gets some more gas around here. 

I was reading an article in the local paper today about this situation and the writer encourages us to call a hot line number to report price gouging to the North Carolina Attorney General.  The number is 1-877-5-NO-SCAM.  I might call the number tomorrow.

I did a little research at the North Carolina Department of Justice website as well.  They actually have a complaint form that you can fill out regarding price gouging.  It's really a joke in itself.  The complaint form seems to want you, the consumer, to do the investigation yourself.  They want you to log the pre-disaster price, post-disaster price, how you know the pre-disaster price, explanation given by the business for the post-disaster price, and copies of your receipts that prove the prices you have listed.  I bet that hot line number will refer you to this form, but I haven't called it yet to find out.  Come to think of it, we're not really in 'post-disaster' at this very moment either.  We're either pre-disaster or during-disaster or something like that.  I don't have receipts to show.  I just want to report every gas station I see, and I haven't bought pre-disaster and post-disaster gas from most of them... 

In the last few minutes, the Hickory Daily Record published this article on the situation...  We'll see what happens tomorrow when I try to call the hotline that is mentioned again in this article...

** 9/13/08 Update

I called the NO SCAM number at 4pm this afternoon.  I got no answer and didn't even get a recording.  Maybe I'll have to try again on Monday.

In a recent blog post, I spent a little time defining what kind of photography I like to do. As I was browsing my friends' blogs and photos last night, I came across a collection of photos in Gordon McGregor's Flickr account that inspired me. Gordon has put together a short collection of images that he specifically wants you to see if you don't have time to look at everything in his collection. These photos seem to define his interests and show off his specific tastes in subject, composition, and technique very well.

After looking at Gordon's short collection, I decided to put together my own short collection that attempts to define who I am and what I like to do as a photographer. I also followed Gordon's lead of creating a short set of images for the collection. There are 25 images in this collection, so it only takes a couple of minutes to see them all. If you click on the photo above, you can view these 25 images as a slideshow.

As discussed in an earlier blog post, I like making photos of people being who they are and doing what they do...

What is it you like to do?

My local camera club has field trips, but most of them are either too expensive for me or held at times that I can't go. I do enjoy shooting with other photographers occasionally, so I decided to form a group of local people who want to get together on a monthly basis to shoot together. The objective of the group is to get together once per month and visit a local site or attraction and spend a few hours making photos. I have created a Flickr group for this project where discussions and photos may be shared. The link to the group is here:

Catawba Valley Photo Walks

If you are interested in participating, please join that group. Flickr is free, so there is no cost involved unless you want to upgrade to their professional level account. This group is open to anyone who wants to participate.

The first Photo Walk will be on Saturday, September 27, 2008 and the site will be the Murray's Mill Harvest Folk Festival. I usually attend this event for at least one of the two days every year, and the photo opportunities are excellent. I hope you can join us!

As a photographer, I realize that the learning never ends. Once you think you know a lot, you realize how much you don't know. I tend to read a good bit on the subject of photography, and I read regularly. I spend practically no time reading about equipment. Reading about hardware, for the most part, bores me unless I'm shopping for something specific, which isn't often these days. Reading about hardware does not advance my skills as a photographer or an artist.

Most of the reading I do is on the subject of photographs themselves rather than the equipment used to make them. When I first gained an interest in photography, it took me a while to really figure out what I really needed to study in order to improve my photography. I looked at thousands upon thousands of photographs before I realized what I needed to study. The two most difficult concepts of learning to make great photos are ironically simple. In fact, they are such simple concepts that they are incredibly difficult for a lot of photographers to grasp. Every great photograph begins with two fundamental concepts. The first concept is WHAT the photographer chose as the subject. The second concept is HOW the photographer chose to compose it in the viewfinder. The how part tends to be the key for me. When I see a photograph that consumes me, it's obvious that my approval of the subject is in place. The part that comes next is understanding why, beyond the subject choice, the photograph appeals to me so strongly. This understanding is the most difficult part of photography for me. Being able to verbalize why a photographic composition is exceptional is a weak point for myself and most photographers I know. Even though it's difficult, having a clear understanding of these concepts will make you a better photographer. Analyzing composition on a regular basis keeps the concepts fresh in your mind and also makes you consider them more regularly when composing your own photos.

Unfortunately, no one can teach you what to photograph. That's something you have to learn on your own. However, once you decide what your subject will be, you can learn a lot about how to photograph it. The subject of composition can be quite difficult, but studying all of its theories in depth and learning to apply them to your subjects will help you turn a great subject into an extraordinary photograph.

In all of the books I have read on photography, I have two that stand out in the subject of image design and composition. The first one, "Photography and the Art of Seeing" by Freeman Patterson had been my favorite up until recently. Patterson's book is exceptional in many ways, but I think it is probably a little too complicated for the novice photographer. In fact, most materials on composition are probably too complex for most beginners. More recently, I purchased Michael Freeman's "The Photographer's Eye" at my local bookstore. This book is geared more towards a clear and concise understanding of most of the fundamental concepts of good image design. It makes use of image overlays and diagrams to show the concepts being discussed in the text. Reading through the ideas, I often find myself thinking.... "yea... that's what I was thinking...." without being able to verbalize it on my own.

I have been asked this question before. I remember it specifically on several occasions, and I remember my lame answers that followed. This subject was refreshed in my memory the other day when I read a post on Paul Lester's blog that brought it to my attention once again. I don't think I can answer the question as simply as some can anymore, because a lot of the photography that I actually do doesn't always compare to what I like to do. In the greater scheme of things, my time in the craft of photography is very short. I have owned cameras for many years, but I never took photography seriously until the spring of 2002, which is the time that I claim to have become a photographer rather than a camera owner.

The answer to this question has changed several times since 2002. As I learned the technical side of photography, my interests were in using those specific abilities to create an image. When I reached a point where I was comfortable with photographic technique, I think I became bored with my choices of subjects, and my previous love of some of those photographs I had made faded as well. I spent a lot of time searching for the real passion I had in photography. At this point, oddly enough, I think I have come full-circle to a point where my love for any particular image does not fall as much into the realm of technique. My current favorites are images that have emotional content that outweighs any technical aspect of the image. This does not mean that good technique is not important. What it means to me is that good technique is only important when the subject is strong.

Another irritating concept that I have come to understand is that good technique is just as subjective as any other aspect of art. Good technique is culturally biased. Studio portrait photographers don't like grainy images. Street photographers don't like flash. Landscape photographers don't like motion blur unless there is a waterfall in the scene. The like or dislike of black and white gets mixed reviews from all sides of the craft. At best, good technique can be defined as whatever technique the photographer prefers for the task at hand.

So what do these things have to do with what kind of photography I like to do? I believe that a combination of my favorite subject choices coupled with my favorite technique help to define what kind of photography I like to do. So... my answer to the question is as follows:

I like to photograph people being who they are and doing what they do.

The reason I prefer to photograph people is simply because they are quite dynamic subjects. I could photograph a waterfall 10 or 15 times and get several different images, but I can photograph a person over and over again without really duplicating a previous image. Mood and attitude changes give me different images over time. One of the other bits that I enjoy about photographing people is that I learn something about them and make new friends as I go. I write down bits of information about everyone I photograph to enhance my personal recollection of the moment since my own memory isn't permanent. Whatever I write down will last as long as the image itself.

I'm just happy that I have spent the time to come up with a concise answer to this simple question... I'll probably never get asked this question again...

I was in the music section at Barnes and Noble the other night and listened to some clips from the Robert Plant / Alison Krauss "Raising Sand" CD. What I heard was different than what I expected, and I walked away and didn't make the purchase. On my way home and during the next day, I kept thinking about what I heard and decided to buy the CD and give it a try.

The simple thought of these two collaborating on anything musically really seemed odd to me because of their distinct backgrounds and styles of music. I found this CD in the "Country" section of Walmart, so that made me think even harder about what I would be absorbing through the earbuds of my iPod when I got back home.

After listening to the CD several times, I still have not drawn a solid conclusion on a definition of this style of music. Maybe I should have expected this, but the sound and style of this music is a very nice mix of what you might expect from Plant and Krauss individually. Some of the tracks lean more to one side than the other, but since I like both musicians individually, I'm enjoying the combination of the two.

I have included the second track from this CD for you to hear for yourself. It's called "Killing the Blues."

[audio:http://www.setzler.net/wp-content/uploads/track-02.mp3]